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Living and Studying at Downing for Undergraduates

Requirements

You are required to see your Tutor and Director of Studies at the beginning and end of each Term. These meetings are obligatory! The beginning of Michaelmas Term appointments will be published online from Monday 24 September onwards. Further information about how to sign-up or view an appointment is available here. It causes great inconvenience if these appointments are missed. If you are unable to keep an appointment it is your responsibility to make alternative arrangements. You are encouraged to discuss with your Director of Studies and/or Tutor any special needs you may have as early as possible. This includes students with unseen disabilities or illness. It is your responsibility to make your needs known to us.

Emailed College newsletters are sent at frequent intervals during the year. Please ensure that you read these as they contain important information which is not distributed in any other format.

You must sign in to collect your key and/or University Card. You must also sign out at the end of each Term and whenever you are away overnight from Cambridge during Term. You are also required to attend your Tutorial appointment at the beginning and end of each Term to enable your Tutor to verify your attendance. Failure to sign in and out or attend your Tutorial appointment will automatically mean that you are deemed not to have kept Term and are therefore not eligible to continue your studies at Cambridge.

An academic gown will be purchased for you by College and will be available for collection from the Tutorial and Admissions Office before Matriculation on Tuesday 2 October.

The College is required by the University to certify that all students have been in residence for a minimum number of days each term (59 days during the Michaelmas and Lent Terms and 52 days during the Easter Term). Therefore, it is necessary for all undergraduate students, whether living in College accommodation or not, to sign out at the Porters' Lodge at the end of each Term as evidence that residence requirements have been fulfilled and that term has been kept. Please note, this declaration does not affect your residential agreement in any way. You must also declare on the sign out sheet if you have had any nights away from College, and make sure that your dates of arrival and departure correspond to the guidance given to you. An example is shown here. If you believe that you have not kept Term, you need to discuss this with your College Tutor.

Bicycles in College

All student bicycles must be marked with a unique personal number which will be allocated to you by the Porters. Please ask the Porters for further details once you arrive in Cambridge.

Keeping a Car in Cambridge

The University ordinances prohibit all students from keeping a car in Cambridge, save in the most exceptional circumstances. Any student who is able to make a case for having a car in Cambridge must obtain the prior approval of the College and University authorities. No parking of student vehicles in College is permitted without such prior consent. Application forms for permission to have a car in Cambridge can be downloaded here. For further information or queries please contact the College Office.